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From Archaeology to Science Fiction

I propose a science fictional theory of knowledge. Michel Foucault proposes an archaeology of knowledge that moves beyond a teleological 'progress' of ideas and any futile attempt at historical continuity. I take his attention to disruptions and thresholds a step further, to where the disruptions and thresholds become fertile space; to the land of.... make-believe.


Here, in the land of make-believe, we never know. We know how not to know. And when we know, we know that we don't know. So what we know is nothing more than the precipice of an imminent descent into nothingness. So it is neither something nor nothing, as Buddhists contend. It is the space between. By no means do I presume to know more than two centuries of Buddhist knowledge and practice. But conveniently, my science fictional theory of knowledge allows such implausible conjectures.


I propose a science fictional approach for knowing the not-knowing; to allow for and indulge in creativity and possibility. We still inhabit the world and have sensory rich experiences. But there is a moment between perceptual experience, and reflexive consciousness and interpretation, when the imagination comes into play. What am I smelling/hearing/touching/tasting/seeing? Is it a dog? A lion? Most likely, it is a dragon.


So imagine, we allow ourselves to float. Or hang glide, having just jumped off the precipice, before landing into nothingness. Open to various winds to carry us and a multiplicity of unknown encounters. Rather than trying to create a stalwart, airtight psychoanalytical / sociological / historical / biological / archaeological / anything-al structure of knowledge to supposedly protect and shield us from the inevitable fall, instead we play. On the elusive playground of possibility. Here, anything is possible. And we all know it.

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